AEW Dynamite Review - May 8, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Orange Cassidy def. Trent Beretta

I appreciated that they made this feel like a grudge match instead of any ordinary singles match. The crowd hated Beretta and was behind Cassidy. It was well worked and I didn't mind the finish because Cassidy just barely got the better of Beretta. What I did mind, however, was Cassidy getting back to his feet right after taking a piledriver from Beretta on the steel steps. That was completely ridiculous. I understand Cassidy has had Superman-esque qualities in the past, but that was too far.

Serena Deeb Attacked AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm

Deeb was interviewed by Tony Schiavone on the stage. I like that setup. Unfortunately, the crowd wasn't completely receptive to her promo, but I thought she did a really nice job recapping her health issues and why she needs to win the AEW Women's World Championship at Double or Nothing. No, I don't at all expect that to happen, but I at least appreciate the effort they're putting into the build for the bout.

Mariah May def. Harley Cameron

I feared the worst when I saw this match advertised, not because of May but because I can't recall the last match Cameron had on television and her character in The Outcasts has been unbearable. To her credit, though, she held her own and they had a decent match. May was able to rebound from her loss to Serena Deeb last week, and Mina Shirakawa came to her aid again afterward. Interestingly, the commentators pointed out that Storm didn't come to May's aid, so the teases of dissension continue.

AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland and Christian Cage Exchanged Worlds Before Brian Cage and The Gates of Agony Attacked Strickland

The verbal back-and-forth between Strickland and Christian was solid albeit nothing out of the ordinary. The top takeaway from the segment was Mogul Embassy (sans Prince Nana, who was out selling the attack from last week) attacking Strickland. He hasn't appeared with them in what feels like ages, so that was a necessary development. Granted, I'm convinced Cage and Gates of Agony will be doomed to Ring of Honor without him, but at least this further cements Strickland as a babyface.

AEW Unified World Trios Champion Jay White def. Rocky Romero

Romero told Cassidy in a backstage segment after the opener that he could earn them a shot at the Unified World Trios titles if he beat White here, which was never going to happen. Has Romero ever won a single important match on Dynamite on his own? They had a well-wrestled match, but I don't understand why this had to happen on Dynamite. As I've said before, White should be involved in more important stuff.

FTW Champion Chris Jericho and Big Bill def. Mo Jabari and Harlon Abbott

The Learning Tree actually appears to be a thing with Jericho and Bill joining forces. Oh, joy. I refuse to call them that until they start getting billed as such officially. This was a simple squash for them where Bill did a majority of the work. Jericho is doing his best to get this new character over, but I just don't see it getting over long-term. This crowd was indifferent toward it, not to mention that the idea of another Jericho-led stable is extremely lame.

AEW TNT Champion Adam Copeland def. Brody King in a No Disqualification Match

This was on par with Copeland's title defense against Buddy Matthews last week in that it received an ample amount of time and had entertaining action. I could've done without King getting busted open because blood in AEW is so damn overexposed, but I enjoyed it for what it was. Post-match, Kyle O'Reilly made the save for Copeland, so they'll meet for the AEW TNT Championship on Saturday's Collision.

FTR, Eddie Kingston and Bryan Danielson Brawled with The Elite

I finally set a five-minute overrun for Dynamite on DVR recently and they still exceeded that with this segment. Is two hours not enough (in addition to the other three hours of television time they have with Rampage and Collision)? It was announced earlier by Kenny Omega (while in the hospital) that The Elite will battle FTR and two partners in an Anarchy in the Arena match at Double or Nothing. The storyline just started, so the stipulation feels rushed. Kingston makes sense, but why Danielson? I guess because he has respect for Kingston following their recent rivalry and he feuded with The Elite last year, but that came out of nowhere to me.

Overall Show

It's only been a few weeks, but the Elite angle has been perfectly fine so far. It hasn't completely killed my interest in Dynamite, so there's that. That said, this was a fairly middling episode. Several storylines progressed ahead of Double or Nothing, but there wasn't anything that stood out in a major way. It was a show that existed. Nothing too great, nothing too terrible. Hopefully they can increase the excitement level for the pay-per-view in the next two weeks.

SEE MORE: Dynamite Reviews